Sister Alex Hartvigsen-- December 13, 2011

Dear Family, I hope everything is going well for you all up there. Things here are going really well. Christmas lights have been going on for about 3 weeks and we are having the opportunity to talk to many people as they come in. It is crazy as between 1000-4000 come in most nights but it is a lot of fun. Last week I was introducing a movie for a group of people in a theater here. My companion did an introduction in English and then I did my part in spanish. When I got finished, a cute little blonde girl on the front row stood up and said loudly enough that everyone could hear it " Well, I don't know what that was!"( refering to my Spanish skills) All the theater burst out laughing and she fled into her mom's arms. it was really cute. This last week has also been a little bit crazy because my companion was just completing her mission and we were busy getting her packed up and prepared to leave. I got transfer news on Saturday night. I will be staying in my Spanish Branch and I am getting Sister Solorzano from Nicaragua. This will be a lot of fun. This week has been good in our area. We met with a recent convert Thursday. We read 3 Nephi 1 with her and talked about how we can trust in the Lord even when things are really hard and he will guide us. We are never left alone. We met with the really big extended family on Monday. They had some doubts about prayer that we addressed . They are Catholic and have been praying to the Virgin Maria. We challenged them to continue to read the Book of Mormon and pray about it (not through Maria) to get their answer. We talked more about prophets and read with them in the Book of Mormon. We also met with a less active women who is coming back to church. We talked to her about prayer and read part of a conference talk by Elder Bednar about prayer with her.
I really don't know where the time is going. It moves so fast. I hit my year mark on Thursday! It doesn't seem real. I am excited for another great transfer. I love you all and I hope that you have a wonderful week.
Love Alex